Higher Education Research Methodology-Literature Method

1 International Education Studies November, 2009179 Higher Education Research Methodology-Literature Method Guijuan Lin Xiamen Software College No. 1199 Sunban South Road, Jimei District, Xiamen, Fujian Province 361012, China Tel: 86-592-5053678 Abstract Starting by a brief introduction of literature Method , this paper raises the question of how to choose representative Research literatures. For this question, Professor Hongcai Wang points out the root of this problem and the strategies to resolve it and provides the ways to choose representative literatures.

2 Through analyzing and summarizing, this paper comes to a conclusion of how to choose representative Research literature . Keywords: literature Method , Representative, Research literatures, Root, Strategies, Ways 1. literature methodology literature Research methodology is to read through, analyze and sort literatures in order to identify the essential attribute of materials. Its significant difference from other methodologies is that it does not directly deal with the object under study, but to indirectly access to information from a variety of literatures, which is generally referred to as "non-contact Method .

3 " literature materials are the crystallization of wisdom, are the ocean of knowledge, have important values for the development of human society, history, culture and Research scholars. Education researches shall fully share information, conduct literature researches to grasp sources of relevant researches and scientific developments and to understand what our predecessors have achieved and the progress made by other researchers. However, in the ocean of knowledge of such a vast amount of information, how should we choose representative literatures? 2. How to choose representative Research literatures As we write dissertations, we often encounter the problem of what materials are representative literatures.

4 The root of the problem. According to Professor Hongcai Wang, the root of this problem, for researchers, is the lack of qualitative analysis of the literatures. Zhenguo Yuan points out that literature Research methodology include non-structured qualitative analysis and structured quantitative analysis. They access to and process information contained in literatures from different perspectives. Generally speaking, literatures are descriptions of the nature, functions and characteristics of objects. These qualitative descriptions seldom show the variable relationship of Research subject, so researchers tend to apply logical reasoning to explore the logical relations among objects rather than the quantity relationship.

5 In general, qualitative analysis is to classify information contained in literatures, to select typical examples to re-organize and come to conclusion on the basis of qualitative description. The qualitative analysis of literatures has special values in distinguishing the past trends and forecasting future models. Qualitative Research of literatures does not focus on the quantity and completeness of literature materials. It focuses on personal literature researches and chooses small samples or characteristics of cases according to the interests of the researches and subject requirements.

6 Qualitative analysis is to study whether the objects under researches have certain nature or to study chance reasons and process analysis. The base of qualitative analysis is philosophy Method . It compares the similarities and differences between things through reasoning, sums up the types of things and grasps the rules of things. The common reasoning process of qualitative analysis is as follows: what is the problem? What is the definition of the concept? What are the facts? What is the reason? What is the conclusion of the study? Qualitative analysis commonly applies seven methods , respectively,: causal analysis, comparative analysis, conflicts analysis, the results and functional analysis, induction and deduction, analysis and synthesis and scientific abstract Method .

7 Strategies to overcome the problem Professor Hongcai Wang provides three strategies to overcome this problem, to talk with scholars, to identify the grade of literatures and to enhance theory knowledge After we have collected as many literatures as possible related to our Research subject, we must sort them out and analyze to determine what representative Research literatures are and what general references are. In the determination Vol. 2, No. 4 International Education Studies180of the representative literatures, several principles must be followed: One is purpose: literature materials must be pertinent, valuable for the subject under Research , are the theoretical base or background information of the Research subject and are typical examples.

8 Researchers could use these materials to find out the past trends and to predict future relevant to these materials. The second is. Authority: The author of the literature has reputation or is representative in this Research field, or is academic leader, or authority editor of key discipline Research bases, and has published articles in national famous magazines. The authority of literature can also be known by identifying how many times the literature has been cited. Under normal circumstances, only literature with authority could earn trust and be given references. The third one is effectiveness.

9 Research materials are valuable for the Research subject. The values are reflected through being good for abstracting, being beneficial for obtaining arguments, being conducive to the formation of Research thoughts. Therefore, Research data must be accurate, comprehensive, profound and typical, not out of date. The stronger the effectiveness is, the more likely the true scientific conclusions could be achieved. The literature then is representative. The fourth one is reliability: The reliability of literature includes authenticity of the literature and the reliability of the contents.

10 When researchers refer to certain literature , they must first make sure whether these literatures are authentic, or fakes or modified, especially for historical documents describing issues. Because the formation time of them is far from our times, it is hard to determine its authenticity. After identifying the authentity of literatures, we must also verify whether the facts or data recorded in the literature are reliable, such as whether the literature faithfully records the truth and whether the concepts and date in the literature and data are accurate, and so on.